Another World, Another Life
by The Storyteller of Dreams
Summary: The first time Orihara Izaya met Heiwajima Shizuo was on a rooftop at the beginning of middle school. What comes after is an unlikely friendship that will shake the entire city. Eventual Shizaya. Middle School AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Inspired by izaynii's gifs (Also crossposted on Tumblr and AO3)**

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 **Part 1**

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Izaya liked rooftops.

Heights were among his favourite things, right underneath humans. It allows him the distance to observe his favourite subjects, and usually gave him a stellar bird-eye view of his surroundings. Therefore, it doesn't surprise anyone _(or at least, it wouldn't surprise anyone if he had any friends)_ to find the brunet perched on the rooftop, eyeing the world beneath him with a wide grin.

Today was no different.

Or at least, it was no different until he stumbled upon another brunet in his usual spot.

The other brunet was asleep on his back, basking in the warm noon sun. He wore a blue uniform of another school-perhaps from Raijin Middle School? Though if he did came from that school then it begged to question why he was in the rooftop of Izaya's school. There were some distance between Raijin and his middle school, after all, and he couldn't imagine someone from another school would come to this rooftop on a whim on lunch break, especially when there wouldn't be any time to return to class.

As he was contemplating on whether to wake up the other boy or not, said brunet opened his eyes _(brown like chocolates, but sweet or bitter?)_. His gaze was directed at the vast blue above them, before sliding down to meet his russet eyes, as if some instinct had given away his presence. The boy frowned, sitting up to face him.

"Who are you?" He asked, chocolate eyes flickering up and down his form, scrutinizing him for something Izaya didn't know.

"Isn't it rude to ask for someone's name before giving your own?" Izaya drawled, hands in his pocket as he smirked back at the other brunet.

His frown turned into a scowl, before he abruptly looked away. "Heiwajima Shizuo." The other boy growled out, almost as if he was disgusted by his own name.

"Heiwajima Shizuo, huh?" Izaya rolled his name around his head. "Now that's better. My name is Orihara Izaya."

That chocolate gaze snapped back at him, eyes wide and mouth agape in open shock. "You don't know who I am?"

"Should I?" The brunet tilted his head, drawing a mocking smirk over his lips. "Well then, you must not be as famous as you think, Shizuo-kun."

"Heh, I wish," Shizuo scoffed, glancing away again, before his gaze returned to him. "What are you doing here anyway? Isn't it lunchtime or something? Shouldn't you be hanging out with your friends?"

Izaya couldn't help but bark out a laugh. "Shouldn't I be the one asking that? You're from Raijin Middle, right? What are you doing all the way here?"

Shizuo looked away, his frown taking on the weight of some other emotion. "It doesn't matter." He muttered. "I'm here because there's nowhere else _to_ be."

He couldn't help but tilt his head in curiosity. "I'm certain that Raijin Middle has its own rooftop."

"No, that's not..." The other brunet sighed, brushing a hand through his brown hair. "I just don't want to be there, okay?"

"Still doesn't answer the question."

"Yeah, well, _you_ haven't answered _my_ question." Shizuo countered. "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be hanging out with your friends or something? It's lunchtime, after all."

Izaya laughed, smirking down at him. "That only applies if you _have_ friends."

The brunet looked shocked, frowning up at him in confusion. "You don't?"

"I don't particularly care for them." Izaya shrugged, then laughed at the other's expression. "Now, now, don't look like that! I rather like my solitude, thank you very much."

"Being alone is different from solitude," Shizuo mumbled, looking away. His gaze was fixed on the horizon beyond the rooftops, and Izaya absentmindedly wondered what it was he was seeing. Then, the brunet reached out and patted the floor next to him, still looking at the horizon as he mumbled out. "Here. Wanna sit or something? Can't imagine standing there to be comfortable."

Izaya blinked, then laughed again, settling down next to the other boy. "Well," he purred, drawing a smirk over his lips. "Since you insist…"


	2. Chapter 2

**Inspired by izaynii's gifs (Also crossposted on Tumblr and AO3)**

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 **Part 2**

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Things started changing since then.

It began with the little things; things that Izaya wouldn't notice nor remember at first. Although Izaya liked to go to the rooftop, he didn't go there every day. After all, even though the rooftop provided him the solace and distance he desired, there were his delightful humans on the ground for him to mess with, and so, he didn't frequent the rooftop as much as he did now. Ever since he met Shizuo, however, he found himself on the rooftop more and more, until he went up there daily in the hopes of meeting the other brunet.

 _(Not that he would admit this, though. If asked, then he would say that he enjoyed the view from the top, and not mention a word about the Raijin middle schooler who also frequent there.)_

 _(No one asked, however, so Izaya never told.)_

The problem with that, though, was that Shizuo visited his rooftop randomly. Some weeks, he would be there for three days in a row. Other times, he wouldn't be there for a whole week. Izaya was mildly dismayed at first _(not that he would ever admit it, however)_ until Shizuo gave him his phone number. From then on, Shizuo would inform him whenever he would be on the rooftop, and Izaya would find himself there without fail.

If someone asked why he bothered to meet the strange brunet every time, Izaya would say that he was simply curious.

 _(It had nothing to do with how warm and content he felt by Shizuo's undemanding, unassuming presence. Nothing at all.)_

No one asked, of course, so Izaya never told.

 _(In fact, no one really noticed his unusual behaviour, with the exception of a certain glasses-wearing classmate of his that was waiting for the right time to ask him to join a club.)_

Then, he began to bring lunchboxes.

As his parents were frequently abroad, Izaya had to learn how to handle domestic tasks by himself. Thankfully, they brought the twins along with them since Mairu and Kururi were still too young to be left behind in Izaya's care, so all he had to focus on was himself. Given time and necessity, Izaya had trained himself to make his own food, though he rarely felt the need to bring lunch to school when there were so many interesting humans to observe.

But then, Shizuo happened and he hadn't been observing his humans as frequently as he used to.

Shizuo was the one to broach the subject one day.

"Hey," The other brunet asked from where he was laying on his back, arms crossed behind his head to pillow his head. "Why aren't you eating lunch."

Izaya-who had been watching the humans below-replied. "I don't see you eating your lunch."

"That's 'cause I keep forgetting to bring it," Shizuo replied back, yawning slightly as he relaxed in the warm glow of the noon sun like a cat. "What 'bout you? I never see you eat here, so do you eat in class or something?"

"Why should I when I have so many wonderful humans to observe?" He asked back, smirking at the sleepy brunet next to him.

Shizuo rolled his eyes, used to his proclamations about humanity by now. "You're weird," He said bluntly. "Anyway, you should eat. You're skinny enough as it is. I wouldn't be surprised if a breeze could topple you over."

Izaya huffed. "I'm not _that_ fragile, Shizuo-kun. Besides, I don't see _you_ eating. All you do here is laze around in the sun."

"That's 'cause I keep forgetting my lunch," The other brunet replied, "It's still in my class in Raijin."

"Hah, and you complain about _me_ not bringing _my_ lunch."

"Like I said, you're skinny enough as it is, no need to make it worse." Shizuo grinned, reaching over to push Izaya sideways. He probably didn't mean to, Izaya reasoned, but the unexpected force of his push was enough to topple Izaya over. For the nth time since they met, Izaya wondered why Shizuo was so unfairly strong for their age.

"No need to use force to prove a point." Izaya huffed again, pushing himself up to a sitting position.

To his credit, Shizuo looked remorseful. "I'm sorry..." He said, sitting up too, looking down at his clenched hands on his lap. "I...I can't help it. I'm just really strong...I wish I can control it, but I _can't_ _._ "

"Well, it's all in the mind, no?" Izaya replied, waving off his apologies. He leaned over, poking Shizuo's forehead with an insolent grin. "Of course, with a brain as protozoic as yours, I bet it's going to be difficult, but that doesn't mean it's impossible."

When he pulled back, Shizuo looked as if he had bowled him over with a truck.

"Ah...well..." The other brunet stammered, a hint of red dusting his cheeks as he looked away, rubbing the back of his head with a hand. "Thanks...Izaya-kun."

Izaya tilted his head, and wondered why such things mattered so much to the other boy. "I'm only stating the obvious." He replied haughtily.

The cough of laughter from Shizuo sounded self-deprecating, but there was an underlying hint of relief. "Yeah," He said, his bangs casting shadows against his eyes. "Of course it is."

For a moment, silence descended upon them. Yet it was the comfortable, companionable one, not the oppressive, awkwardness of words unsaid. Shizuo remained looking at his lap, red cheeks slowly returning to its normal hue. Izaya, on the other hand, chose to lean back against the wall and relax.

 _(He wondered how long has it been since he felt so at peace.)_

Then, Shizuo spoke:

"You're still skinny." He said, glancing at Izaya. "You really need to eat more."

In return, the brunet rolled his eyes. "Only if you bring your lunch too. I won't be eating here alone."

Shizuo grinned-and the expression was so startling on his usually frowning and scowling face, it took Izaya a moment to capture what he was saying.

"Of course, Izaya-kun." Shizuo said. "So you better bring yours the next time we're here."

And that had been that. Ever since then, Izaya found himself bringing a lunchbox to school, eating together with Shizuo on the rooftop. If someone asked him why the sudden change of pace, he would have replied that he was simply hungry.

No one asked, however, so Izaya never told.

 _(He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he found himself looking forward to Shizuo's texts, telling him that he was going to be on the rooftop.)_

 _(Luckily, no one asked, so he didn't have to lie.)_

And then, things changed again.

He had heard rumours about Shizuo being a monster, but he had dismissed them as being exaggerated. Fear does that to people. It was more likely that Shizuo was simply a very good fighter than the possibility of him ripping a street sign like grass. Izaya couldn't imagine someone like Shizuo—wiry, not overly-muscular Shizuo—could possess the strength required to achieve such superhuman feats.

It was rare, but Izaya was proven wrong.

As he stared at the wreck in front of him, Izaya wondered how he missed all the signs.

He didn't intend to turn towards this corner of the street, but the screams and shouts of some adults incensed his curiosity. He was even more intrigued when he saw someone thrown up to the sky, as if he was a doll and not a full-grown man. _Who could have done that?_ He had wondered, making his way to the street, grinning from the anticipation of observing something interesting. _What kind of human could have done this?_

Izaya didn't expect the answer to be Heiwajima Shizuo.

Shizuo hadn't notice him yet, still heaving from the exertion of his one-sided fight. A bent street sign was in his hand, held like some makeshift bat. With a grunt, he tossed the unlikely weapon aside, his frustrated glower sending a heat Izaya couldn't name down his spine.

If it was anybody else, if he didn't know who it was, if it wasn't Heiwajima Shizuo—

 _(If it wasn't his…his…his…_ _ **friend**_ _—)_

Izaya would have drawn a smirk over his lips and clapped his hands, congratulating the other for the display of violence.

As it was, all he could do was turn back and run away.

 _(That was what he did, after all, when confronted with something he didn't know what to do. Run, avoid, and ignore the problem, and perhaps one day it would be gone entirely.)_

 _(That wasn't true, of course, but Izaya was very good at self-deception.)_

Some distance away, he paced himself, settling down from his jog into a seemingly calm stride. In truth, however, he was anything _but_ calm. He clutched the strap of his bag tightly, staring at his feet as his body moved on autopilot. What would he do when he meet Shizuo next? What would he say? What _could_ he say? Now that he knew what the other was hiding, Izaya didn't know how to react.

 _(He knew—though he hated to admit it—that he was terrible with relationships. For all he observed from humanity, it seemed he lacked the capability to make one. It wasn't that he didn't feel or couldn't empathise—unlike sociopaths and psychopaths—it was just that nobody had ever shown him_ _how_ _to make a good relationship.)_

 _(And Shizuo…Shizuo was—with his unassuming, undemanding presence, his concern about Izaya's eating habits, his penchant to bask in the sun like a cat—he was…)_

 _(Izaya could deny everything else, but he couldn't deny that he wanted to preserve this relationship.)_

As he walked home _(not home; a house, empty and silent and vacant)_ Izaya heard a familiar voice shouting his name.

"Izaya-kun!" He stilled at the voice, slowly turning his head to look at Shizuo over his shoulder. The other brunet was panting, as if he had run all the way here, still covered in bruises from his fight.

"Shizuo-kun," Izaya greeted, trying for an imitation of amicability but failing, his voice falling flat in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

The other boy panted, tilting his head back to get a deep gulp of air, before gazing back at him, the line of his mouth weighted by a worried frown. "You saw that."

"Saw what?" He tried for ignorance.

Shizuo glowered, "Don't play dumb! You saw what I did! I…I went into one of my rages and I…I…"

"You beat up all those adults and ripped up a _street sign_ ," Izaya stated incredulously, dropping his oblivious front. "What _are_ you?"

Shizuo flinched as if he had slapped him. "I…I'm…"

He looked down, biting his lips and all-around looking ashamed.

"I'm…a monster…"

Izaya stared at him. He couldn't tell how long he gazed at his bowed head, those brown bangs covering those chocolate eyes. It felt like both an eternity and a second had passed before Shizuo looked up, lifting his head to looked back at him.

Izaya still didn't know how to reply.

"Ah…well…" Shizuo rubbed the back of his head, gaze flitting this way and that. "Are you…will you be at the rooftop tomorrow?"

He opened his mouth, before closing it, unable to give words to his confused thoughts yet. Another moment passed before he answered, "I don't know."

Shizuo flinched again, looking to all the world as if he had been stabbed.

"Oh," The other boy said, looking down at the ground. "I get it. I won't go there anymore."

 _(No!)_

The words spilled forth before he could stop them, before Izaya could shape them into something less potentially revealing. "What? Who told you to do that? I still want to meet you."

"You…you do?" Shizuo blinked, slowly looking up at him. Those chocolate eyes looked so hopeful that Izaya couldn't help but nod silently.

A bright, wide grin burst forth. "Really? That's—that's great! Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then!"

There was nothing he could say to that, no words he could offer that would rebuke the suggestion _(though he didn't know whether he_ _ **wanted**_ _to refuse)_. As he watched Shizuo left as swiftly as he came, Izaya dropped his head to his hands, face meeting his palms.

 _What did I get myself into?_


End file.
